Newsletter – August 31, 2015

Dear Members,

This week you are getting Bi-color potato called Masquerade, yellow onions, yellow carrots, green peppers and Lipstick peppers, Japanese eggplant, squash, cucumber, basil, beans, red and gold tomatoes, muskmelon, white flesh honeydew and Charleston Grey watermelon. Lipstick peppers are sweet and come in a range of colors from lime green, yellow, orange and red. Prepare them as you would any other sweet pepper. The Charleston Grey watermelon is an heirloom. If you are willing, we would like you to save the seed. They must be rinsed off, dried on a paper towel or paper plate then placed in an envelope. If they are placed in a plastic bag, they will mold and cannot be used. The envelope allows air to circulate and complete the drying process.

Fruit: I am happy to announce that Thomas Cameron from Rancho Durazno has found Bartlett pears for you! They are coming from Fortunate Fruit in the Hotchkiss area of Western Colorado. All the fruit you have gotten to this point has come from Rancho Durazno (Peach Ranch in Spanish). He is also including a pluot along with the pears. It is 70% plum and 30% apricot. Hope you like it!

Tips: Here are some more tips for storing veggies. My grandmother taught me this tip: get a large re-sealable Tupperware bowl and place any left-over veggies from dinner into this bowl (kept in the freezer). When the bowl is full, make instant soup! Don’t forget that the veggies are already cooked ~ so you only need to make your broth, warm them up and serve!

Tip 2: Place leftover veggies in a plastic freezer bag. Use a stir straw for coffee, place in the corner of the bag and seal around straw. Now suck out the air and at the same time, seal the bag and pull out the straw with your teeth. Most freezer burn comes from condensation in the air in the bag. Remove this and your veggies will store for a longer time. This is the same technique used with the Foodsaver. Don’t forget to write on the bag that is it fully cooked food. You do not want to recook this food, just reheat it. If you do this the whole summer, you will have small packets of food ready for winter.

Tip 3: Plan your week of meals and freeze the remaining unused veggies. My website has a link to CSU’s Freezing Guide. Again, if you do this throughout the summer, you will have packets of veggies ready for use in the winter!

Tip 4: If you are getting overwhelmed with summer squash, replace noodles with spiraled squash. Believe me; you won’t even notice the missing noodles. We have been making lasagna and spaghetti with all the varieties and they all are fantastic (eggplant is excellent replacing lasagna noodles)!

Tip 5: Shred your zucchini, measure for your favorite zucchini bread recipe and place in a plastic bag raw. Suck out the air. When ready to use, you need to drain the liquid off the squash. I do this by unthawing in a strainer. Pat dry and make your bread!

Jacquie, Jerry and Kyle

Newsletter – August 24, 2015

Dear Friends,

This week you are getting red potatoes, garlic, white onions, purple carrots, cabbage, squash, Nubia eggplant, cucumber, green pepper, purple bell peppers, green beans, red tomatoes and possibly some assorted heirloom tomatoes (yellow, Cherokee Purple, Tie-Dye, or Black Velvet), orange honeydew, muskmelon and Crimson Sweet watermelon. Nubia is a beautiful white eggplant with flecks of magenta throughout the fruit. Use this as you would any other eggplant. The purple, tie-dye and black tomatoes will have some green in them. They are ready to eat right now, but will continue to turn if you let them. (They will also get very soft!)

Honey is coming for the Monthly and Bi-monthly customers. One time delivery will be in September due to the cold and rainy May. The bees are behind in making their favorite meal! We will deliver on September 14th.

Festival: Please continue to RSVP to Peg Lehr about volunteering or attending the festival. Her contact info is wrdwrrior@comcast.net or 303-320-5706. The festival is September 20th from 11 to 4. She will need to know the number of adults, kids and guests and if anyone is a vegetarian and will want a Boca burger. (Guests will be charged $10 per person, three and under are free!)

2015 Fees: All fees are due in full by September 1st for your vegetable, fruit and honey shares. We have always tried to make this CSA as easy as possible to pay for. We do not ask for 100% of your fees up front, which is how most CSA’s work across the US. We have divided your fees into three installments between the membership fee due early in the spring and your produce fees due on July 15th and September 1st. If you cannot pay your fees in full at this time, please call me and let me know. We plan on discontinuing delivering shares for those customers who have not paid in full starting the week of September 7th.

Winter Share: You will find a link to a downloadable sign-up form for the winter share, beef, pork & lamb at the bottom of the newsletter. Deadline to return this form (done via snail mail!) is September 30th. The Winter Share will begin the first Wednesday in November (4th) and will continue every-other-week until February 24th. We skip the December 30th delivery and give you two bags on the 16th. This way, if you are hosting Christmas, you will have plenty for the party!

Jacquie’s Soapbox: Here is an issue that I think gets to everyone at one time or another: Being on time. I don’t think anyone really thinks about this unless you run a business and have to wait on people when they make an appointment with you. Or if you have a dinner party and you are waiting to serve a delicious dinner and it will be spoiled if a couple of guests do not arrive soon. I understand with all the construction happening that it is really hard to know how long it may take to get somewhere. But listen folks: All of you are big on computers and your I-phones. Members are constantly asking me to arrive in the 21st century and do everything on line. And yet, I wait. Are you telling me you cannot do a little research and find out if there is traffic congestion or construction zones before you decide to leave? This is not only an inconvenience for me but for everyone else that is waiting to do their u-pick veggies too. My day does not end when everyone goes home. I have to go with Jerry to determine what will be picked for distribution, make a list, decide how much we can give based on the production in the field and calculate how much is needed and make a picking outline for our crew. I also recount each pouch from Saturday farmers market and make change for the next weekend. Once the Sunday markets are over and people have returned, I count those pouches too. Please keep this in mind the next time you come to visit. It is always preferable to be early than to be late!

Thank you for hearing me out!
Jacquie, Jerry and Kyle

Winter Storage Share Form 2015

Newsletter – August 17, 2015

Dear Members,

We are half way through our summer. It’s hard to believe, but it is true! Spring was difficult, but it appears the crops are really starting to come on. New this week you are getting Japanese eggplant, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, red watermelon and hopefully everyone will get orange honeydew. You will also get Yukon Gold potatoes, garlic, yellow onions, beets, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes and muskmelon. Please remember to scrub the rinds of the melons before you cut into them!

Reminders: Two things; it is very important to return your bags to your distributor. They are keeping track and they soon will be getting after you if you have been forgetful more than once! Second. Please remember that I am busy either working outdoors in the field or barn and delivering produce or attending farmers markets. I am not home much and do not check email. If you send me an email, the likelihood of a prompt return email is very unlikely and may not be answered until October or November! If it is important, the best way to get ahold of me is by phone.

A Day in the Life of Jacquie: I have gotten a lot of good responses from members about the Day in the Life of Jerry and was asked to do the same for myself. So here it goes!

My week starts on Sunday with either attending a farmers market or spending the morning with Jerry. We will head out to view the different veggie fields to see what is ready to pick and how much we think we can give members that week. I make a spreadsheet to figure out how much is needed for each size share and a grand total needed to be picked. Then I make a picking outline for our crew. We pick on Mon. for Tuesday distribution, Tue. for Wednesday distribution and Wed. for Thursday distribution. After members of the family come back from market (or I do), I recount & verify the cash from all the pouches from each market (Sat & Sun). If I don’t go to market and if I’m lucky enough that Jerry does not need me to help with a special project, (pick up & stack bales of hay, pick veggies or weed), I can sometimes start the newsletter or this becomes our u-pick day for members. On Monday morning I make the deposit and write the newsletter based on information extracted from Sunday rounds. Then, of course, I am going into town to the bank, the post office and any other errands needed for us personally or for the farm. (There is always something for the farm!)

Tue, Wed and Thr are basically the same. I start the morning writing a letter to each of your distributors. It will include info such as how many shares they are getting in each size, if we are adding a new customer or a donated share, how much of everything extra (not in bags) that is to be given out, and whether or not there is fruit or honey and cookbooks, how much of that is being given out and sometimes to whom. I print the newsletter and make sure each Distribution Center has the right amount. Once that is completed, I go out to the barn and help finish bagging up produce and loading trucks. Jerry and I split the route and head off in two directions returning home somewhere between 2:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon. I walk right into the office and check messages to see if a distributor has called with questions or concerns and return any important messages right away. It’s about this time I start to think about dinner and get the meat out or go out and get veggies for a stir-fry. (I make those a lot!) Wed. night I do distribution at the farm for those members who live close to me. While I wait, I work in my yard and flower beds. It is relaxing and an enjoyable way for me to experience the beauty that Mother Nature provides.

Friday is my “day off”. I clean my house, wash clothes, pay bills and (of course) run errands again. Anything I didn’t get done earlier in the week gets done on Friday. Many late Fri. afternoons you can find me out at the barn helping to load trucks for farmers markets. Sat. is an early day with a 4:30 am start and a long (one hour) drive to Boulder Market. I head home around 3:30 and now it takes an extra 15 to 20 min to get home. Once there we unload everything, sort it and reload a truck for Sunday market. Everything unsuitable for human consumption is taken out to the animals and they get a nice treat. They seem to know the program and are usually keeping an eye out for us.

Then there are those special days such as the 15th and the last day of the month that people call pay-days. I have a spreadsheet to help me determine everyone’s wages; check stubs are printed, checks are written and handed out.

Other than that, I don’t do much. My relaxation time is a good half hour or so reading in the tub at night!

Quote of the Week: Roses are red, the mud is brown. The farm is better than a night on the town! – Unknown

Vegetable Wash: Here is a handy vegetable wash you can easily make at home!

Juice from 1 whole lemon
1 spray bottle
2 tbsp vinegar
1 scrub brush
1 cup water
Mix and go at it!!!

Have a wonderful week! (It’s supposed to cool down a bit.)

Jacquie, Jerry and Kyle

Newsletter – August 10, 2015

Dear Friends of the Farm,

New crops this week are a bi-color potato called Mardi Gras, tomatoes, Japanese eggplant, purple peppers and yellow watermelon or muskmelon. This is the early planting of tomatoes (before the rain) and there are not very many rows in production (3). We had just started to plant when the storms started to hit and we got them covered with row cover. It is not the peak of the season yet. Most of the field tomatoes were planted after the rain, so we expect most of the tomatoes to come on later in the month or beginning of next month. As I’m sure most of you know tomatoes do not like to be cold. Store them on the counter (out of the sun) until ready to use.

Mardi Gras is a beautiful potato that is marbled purple and yellow. It has some of the benefits of a purple potato with the taste close of a Yukon Gold. I like to roast these babies on the grill because they tend to keep their color better.
I know you get tired of hearing this, but I don’t know how else to say it!! Because of the wet May, the eggplant plants are having a hard time producing. If we cannot get everyone one Japanese eggplant, you will get a black one. Eggplant are hard to store. They do not like to be too cold or too warm. I usually store my eggplant on the counter and try to use it in a stir-fry as soon as possible. The older it gets, the more bitter it becomes. You do not need to salt and sweat this (to remove bitterness) because it is so fresh, (unless you are trying to get out excess liquid for a specific reason). For long term storage, wrap the eggplant in plastic wrap and place in your crisper drawer on warmest setting.

The purple peppers are just starting to mature. We hope everyone will get one, but you may not. We will know more once we get out there picking!

Last week you got a yellow watermelon called Yellow Doll. It is a refrigerator melon which means it remains small and is the first to maturity. It was planted during the rain and the plants are stunted and only a few melons have grown to maturity. This week you will get a yellow watermelon or muskmelon. There isn’t enough of both to give everyone one of each. Muskmelon is in the cantaloupe family but has a stronger taste and is sweeter.

This week you are also getting red onions, carrots, possibly a few turnips, squash, a cucumber and green beans.

Fruit: Members will be getting plums and a few more peaches!

Festival: We are looking forward to our gathering on September 20th for a beautiful day of fun on the farm! Hours will be 11am to 4pm. We need to know who will be attending this event so that we know how much inventory we need to purchase. You must RSVP to this event! Please do so no later than Sept 12th. Contact Peg Lehr at wrdwrrior@comcast.net or by phone at 303-320-5706. We will need to know if you are vegetarian and how many people are in your family; adults/kids. We do not encourage people from outside the membership to join us for the festival. This is our Thank You to you for being members. If you do bring guests, it will be $10 a person, adult and children alike. We will also need to know how many adults/kids and whether or not they are vegetarian. A return reply will not be given to your RSVP.

Activities: There will be a pot-luck style lunch. We will provide utensils, drinks, hot dogs and hamburgers, plus all the extras that go with them. We will need you to bring a side dish or dessert. Please double the amount you would normally feed your family.

There will be a few carnival style booths for children and for the adults that still are children deep inside!
There will be a Canning Booth to help you with your canning questions. We will also hold a jam/jelly contest and a pickle contest. Please bring down your best jar and let us see how it stands up to our judges’ views! There will be a small prize for the winners!
If you are interested in a hat or cookbook they will be available to purchase at the Festival.
We will have our annual Stick Horse Race for all horse lovers. We encourage you to make your horse and enter your steed into the race. Prizes will be awarded for best dressed horse and the winners of the races. We will start out with a parade and then the races begin!
A Self-Tour of the farm will be available. Loaded with a map and directions, you can explore the buildings on the farm; see animals and the farmland itself.
If you are interested in picking a few crops, we normally have a list of U-pick crops for canning and freezing at the Check–In station. You will need a decent pair of shoes for picking crops (flip flops are not recommended)!

Volunteers for festival: I know several of you could not make it to the farm this spring and are anxiously waiting for a time in which you can volunteer on the farm. Now is your chance! The Festival will need several people to help keep it running smoothly! Please contact Peg Lehr about volunteering! wrdwrrior@comcast.net or 303-320-5706.

Here is a list of all the jobs that need volunteers:
Set Up and Produce Choppers: as many as we can get & we start at 9am sharp!
Check-In Station: two people every hour – 11 to 3
“Master” Grillers: two people every shift – 10:30 to 12; 12 to 1:30 and 1:30 to 3
Clear Food Table and Man Drink Station: 2 people every hour 11 to 3
Empty Trash Cans/Restock Bathrooms: 1 person every hour 11 to 4
Canning “Experts”: 1 person every hour 11 to 3
Cookbook/Hat Booth: 1 person every hour 11 to 3
Tear Down & Clean Up: Everyone who is still around at the end of the day can help us with this chore! As Grandmother Edith would say, “Many hands make light work.” This takes no more than an hour to complete. Last year because we had so many helping hands, this work was completed in 45 min!

Thanks for letting us be your farmers this summer! Jacquie, Jerry and Kyle

Rosy Home-Style Fries
4 to 5 med potatoes, cubed and boiled until tender
2 med beets, cooked and cubed
1 Tbsp oil
1 med onion, finely chopped
1 large pepper, chopped
(optional)
½ cup fresh chopped parsley or 2 to 3 Tbsp dried
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Saute’ onions 5 min. Add potatoes and beets, saute’ 10 minutes or until potatoes start to brown. Toss in everything else and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. Serve warm.

Helpful Hint: This recipe works best if the beets and potatoes are cooked ahead of time and cooled completely!

Check out Jacquie’s Summer Pasta on page 71 in the cookbook for another great recipe for squash. I like this cold the next day for lunch after I have had it
 warm for dinner the night before!

Newsletter – August 3, 2015

Dear Members,

New this week are globe eggplant and green basil. You are getting an assortment of potatoes. This can include red, yellow or purple. You are also getting white onions, carrots, cucumber, garlic and green beans. Squash can include a yellow round or a green zucchini, yellow straight-neck, a striped green squash called safari, a striped yellow squash called Sunbeam and a two-toned yellow/light green squash called Zephyr. Last week you got cinnamon basil (sorry, Jerry didn’t tell me).

Tips: It is starting to get hot! It’s tough on the humans, but wonderful for the slow growing crops due to the cool spring and summer. This means that your bags will have wilted produce. You may need to give your produce a cold water bath. Because the produce is so fresh, it will hydrate within a few hours to overnight. Don’t forget! Do not throw dirt down your sink; it will clog up your pipes. I wash my produce into a large metal bowl and discard the water outside!

Carrots should be washed, dried and stored in a plastic bag. It is best not to wash your beans, squash and potatoes until you are ready to use them or they will rot immediately! Store the potatoes in a paper bag or a cardboard box. They need air because they generate their own heat. I just throw my squash, onions and cucumbers into my crisper drawer. Beans I place in a cloth bag and also place in the crisper drawer.

Potatoes: I love, love, love to grill these babies! I simply cut them to bite size, sprinkle with salt and pepper, (add butter if you love it) and double wrap in foil and place on grill. My family will scarf down my garlic cheese potatoes. I boil 6 to 8 potatoes with garlic (1 clove per potato) with half an onion (preferably white) with salt and pepper. Drain and mash, shred cheddar cheese (around one cup) and stir in just enough to mix, stopping before cheese starts to melt. Serve while hot!

Squash: Here is one of my all-time favorite recipes and it is a great way to use up my squash. The recipe comes from Sunset Magazine Mexican Cookbook (1990).

Burritos de Verduras

2 tbls Oil 4 medium squash, diced
2 lg carrots, thinly sliced 1 cup corn kernels
1 lg onion, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced 1 lg can kidney beans or black beans, drained
2 ½ tsp chili powder 12 flour tortillas
¾ tsp ground cumin & dry oregano
Heat oil in frying pan over med heat, add the first 5 ingredients and cook until onion is soft. Then add the next four ingredients and cook until squash is tender. Heat tortillas in foil for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Spoon filing into tortillas, wrap ends of tortilla over filling and fold sides over ends. Place fold side down. Add garnishes as desired: sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, cheese, tomato and cilantro.

Enjoy your summer produce! Jacquie, Jerry and Kyle